Wouldn’t it be great to have an activity that’s fun, promotes health and help you feel great afterwards? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could bond with your child and it would be something that the entire family can do? While thinking about giving you tips to keep your New Years resolution about getting into shape or improving your life, the idea came to me to have a Preschool Dance for Kids and Parents class.

I would modify the class a bit but the whole objective of the class would be creating a space where parents and kids can have fun together moving and dancing. It wouldn’t be a hard class, it would sort of be like a party but everyone is doing the same steps instead of their own steps. Doing your own thing can be incorporated into the class so the participants can have their own time for creative expression and to be in the spot light.

In my mind I see all these moving bodies both big and small with big happy smiles on their faces, some eyes opened others closed having a blast dancing to Elmo, Yo Gabba , The Backyardigans, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and much more. It would be an activity for both boys and girls and moms and dads. At the end of the class there would be a time to wind down and stretch and get in touch with your body.

It would be broken down into age groups like a class for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school aged children up to about age 7. The music would be based on what interested the children and what programs they watch on television. It would be great if it could take place once a week every week.

I can see having this type of activity in the beginning of a PTSO meeting at schools or just a way for schools both elementary and preschools to have a fun and healthy way of relieving stress for the parents and providing fun and fitness for both the parents and their children.

In my mind it sounds wonderful but I wonder what you all think of this. I would love to have your feed back and hear your thoughts on something like this. How do you think it would work best. I know initially the parents will not want to move. They will probably just want to sit and watch like they normally do. So somehow I will have to encourage them just a little.

Maybe I have to have it split where they can rest during the class and take breaks until they get their wind and the children can do more action oriented stuff like pretending to be pop corn, frogs and dogs crawling and hopping on the floor. Anyway please share your comments on this idea by leaving a comment below and also sharing it with your family, friends or anyone you know that might be interested in something like this. You can also share this post on social media. I would love to hear from you.

Helping your child to learn to make good decisions start earlier than we think. When we ask our toddler, “Fruit pop or jello” we limit the choices to only two things.We unconsciously give our children choices of either/or, rarely ever a choice of both. Sometimes we should introduce the concept of having and doing both. How about do a little dance while you clean up your room or pick up your toys. Turn on the music and have fun while you are cleaning up. It doesn’t have to be all of the time, but it should be some of the time so that children learn that there are more choices than this or that.

I totally understand that as a parent you just don’t have a lot of time and you just need things done. Ditto that for teachers, you have even less time because there are so many other demands in the classroom. But what would happen if we could expand our thinking just a little bit to think about how we can teach children as well as ourselves to ask “How can I do both.” or ” Is it possible to do both.” So we can give choices of would you like tuna salad and turkey salad, have a little of each. Or in the other example clean up the room and have fun while doing it.

The choices that we give children should grow up with them. They wont need to have either or choices forever. They can make decisions on having both. When my daughter was making a choice on her career, she initially felt that she had to choose between being a dancer or an attorney. I asked her why can’t you do both. You can be a professional dancer and find a way to practice law also. It doesn’t have to be either/or. A light bulb went off in her head, she had never thought of that.

I am going to make a point of thinking in terms of both when making decisions and choices and be open to thinking about what else is possible. Doing this will open up greater possibilities and choices to choose from. Having greater choices and possibilities will result in experiencing a richer and fuller life.

Try this not only with your children but also when you have to make decisions yourself. Think in terms of how can I have both and see what opens up for you. Come back and let me know what happens. I’d love to hear from you. Please share this with family and friends if you find value. Also please feel free to leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you

The park is a great place to play year round in any season. I’m in the Northeast and many people in this area think of the park as a thing to do in the Summer or in warm weather. But playing outdoors is great all times of the year. When I was coming up we played outside year round and rarely ever came indoors.

Only when it was frigid outside did we bother to come inside. Our fingers were numb and blue and we looked like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, which was some feat as I am caramel in color. We would come in and drink hot chocolate to warm up.

You know you should exercise more and you also want to spend quality time with your kids, but, after a hard day of work you just want to crash. Here’s a fun activity that will require some energy but not as much as an entire workout. The thing you’ll love most about this activity is that it involves you watching television.

Really? I get to watch my favorite t.v. show. Almost, as I tell my students, actually you’re going to watch your child’s favorite kids show. The only requirement is that the show has to have commercials. Commercials are normally about two minutes in length. During the commercials you are going to chase your child around the sofa or general area until the program comes back on.

I know you are like what, chase my child. Yes, I am saying to chase your child. I am recommending it because chasing and being chased is a lot of fun. You will be filled with joy as your child is screaming and laughing. It’s only for two minutes so this should be a piece of cake. The reason why I want you to run is because it is only two minutes and then you can sit down and catch your breath. Running will get your heart rate up and cause you to also use a lot of oxygen. You will notice you will feel much better and a little bit energized when you sit down.

Your child will love it and think it’s a fun game. Remember to give them a little head start first. Make sure the area is free of toys and safe to run in. Make sure all expensive items are safely out of the way. If you don’t want to run you can do things like marching in place, jumping in place, running in place, jumping jacks or pushups. You and your child can decide. You can even do this if you have more than one child.

If they complain and give you a hard time about doing it no problem. No exercise, no t.v or electronic gadgets, they will have to study their school work even if they have no homework, you will find something for them to do. I think they will chose to exercise. It’s up to you as the parent to really sell them on the idea though. So maybe don’t call it exercise may be call it playing chase, or whatever the two of you think of. Those famous words” You can’t catch me.” , should be enough to get them started.

Please try it and let me know how it works out. You can let me know by commenting below. You can also comment if you’d like to share what works for you. If you have a show that the entire family watches you can use that too. Please share this post with family and friends online or off. Have a great day!

Have you ever thought about what the most powerful parenting tool that you have in your parenting tool box? Let me assure you it is more powerful than you can ever imagine. I know you say, “It’s love.” Love is the driving force behind this powerful tool; think again. “The belt! or “The strap!” and still others might say it’s “My voice, I can yell and scream so loud that you can hear me on the other side of the world. That really gets things moving in my home.”

Here’s another hint: using this tool helps both you and your child to feel Read more »